Nihilego/USUM
Nihilego is found as a static encounter in the Ultra Deep Sea at level 60. The Ultra Deep Sea is a part of the Ultra Warp Ride game, and can be accessed by entering a low-level white Ultra Wormhole after Ultra Necrozma is defeated. UB-01 Symbiont, formerly locked to the postgame, is now attainable in late-game Alola for your Nuzlocke pleasure! A powerful Poison-type Pokemon with a level advantage against the remainder of the game, as well as some prime 127/103 Special Attack and Speed stats, Nihilego appears to be a solid addition to any late-game team, especially after the team-destroying battle that is Ultra Necrozma. In spite of these positives, however, Nihilego's typing and terrible physical bulk causes it to suffer a crippling weakness to a couple of major fights, including the impending Grand Trial and parts of the Elite Four. Important Matchups * Mina (Seafolk Village, Fairy-type): Mawile is gonna be a bit too difficult for Nihilego to take on, as it can use Iron Head on turn 1 and KO with Sucker Punch the following turn. However, once Mawile goes down, Nihilego is able to clean house. Sludge Wave will OHKO Granbull before it can do literally anything, and Sludge Wave or Power Gem will deal with Ribombee in one shot. * Ilima (Hau'oli Cemetery, Normal-type): Sludge Wave will 2HKO Gumshoos, while the worst it can do to you is halve your health with Super Fang. Furthermore, if you've EV trained your Special Attack to benefit from the Beast Boost over Special Defense (which you really should do in order to fulfill Nihilego's role as a sweeper), after KOing Gumshoos, you'll be set up to sweep. At +1, Sludge Wave will be able to OHKO Smeargle. You can only OHKO Komala after two Beast Boosts, although if Smeargle and Gumshoos were both dealt with by Nihilego prior to the Komala, that shouldn't be a problem. * Mallow (Lush Jungle, Grass-type, Ultra Sun only): Trevenant can be a little dangerous, as it solely runs physical attacks along with investment in Special Bulk and Horn Leech. Your Sludge Wave will only 3HKO, while it can cause decent damage to you using Horn Leech, so fight it only if you need to. Shiinotic is considerably easier. And by "easier", I mean "OHKO it with Sludge Wave". Tsareena is also OHKOed by Sludge Wave even before recieving a Beast Boost, making this fight simple for the most part. * Lana (Lush Jungle, Water-type, Ultra Moon only): Despite having a type disadvantage, Lana isn't impossible to deal with. Because of your high Special Defense, your Sludge Wave will actually outdamage her Lanturn's Hydro Pump, allowing you to 2HKO it to begin the Beast Boosts. At +1, Power Gem and Sludge Wave will OHKO Cloyster, and at +2, Power Gem and Sludge Wave will OHKO Araquanid. However, if you don't perform a successful team sweep and fail to get two Beast Boosts, switch away from Araquanid - its Liquidation will OHKO Nihilego. * Kiawe (Wela Volcano Park, Fire-type): Power Gem is your best friend in this fight, even if you don't manage to pick up any Beast Boosts. Even with no boosts to your Special Attack at all, Power Gem will certainly OHKO Talonflame and Marowak, and has a chance to OHKO Arcanine. All of Kiawe's Pokemon are mere playthings to the power of UB-01 Symbiont. * Sophocles (Hokulani Observatory, Electric-type, Ultra Sun only): This fight doesn't really work for Nihilego, unfortunately. The Steel or Rock-typing of all of Sophocles' Pokemon work against you, while Nihilego will not be able to break a 3HKO on anything here. * Nanu (Aether House, Dark-type, Ultra Moon only): Dazzling Gleam will 2HKO Sableye, while it can barely touch you, making it excellent for getting your first Beast Boost. Absol's Psycho Cut may seem scary, but you have a decent chance to outspeed it, and you should be able to OHKO it with Dazzling Gleam, even without a Beast Boost, although a +1 boost will turn that into a certain OHKO. Finally, with Persian, even though it is one of the few things in this game that will outspeed you, you will be able to OHKO it with a +1 or higher Dazzling Gleam, while even its powerful Black Hole Eclipse attack will only deal about 1/3 of your health in damage. * Totem Ribombee (Seafolk Village): Nihilego is what we in the Pokemon business describe as an "instant win Pokemon". Sludge Wave or Power Gem will 2HKO the Totem, while its only threat against you is its ally Pelipper - and even that will fall to an unboosted Power Gem. * Hapu (Exeggutor Island, Ground-type): Sorry, but Nihilego doesn't even want to touch this fight with a 39-and-a-half-foot pole. * Gladion (Mount Lanakila): Power Gem is a guaranteed OHKO against Crobat, while it can only deal a small amount of damage to Nihilego with its Acrobatics. With a Beast Boost to Special Attack, Nihilego's +1 Dazzling Gleam can deal with either the real Lucario or the Zoroark, although you may take a hit from both of them before they die, with Lucario's Metal Claw taking out 50% of your health and Zoroark's Night Daze dealing 30% of your health. As for Silvally, your strategy depends on the Memory it holds. The Fire Memory Silvally can be dealt with using Power Gem with minimal risk. The Grass Memory Silvally can be killed with Sludge Wave, but its Multi Attack can 2HKO, so be careful with it. The Water Memory Silvally should be avoided at all costs, as it can outspeed Nihilego and OHKO with its Multi Attack. * Elite Four Molayne (Pokémon League, Steel-type): This fight in general is just bad for Nihilego. Klefki's Special Defense investment and status moves make it too tricky for Nihilego to deal with. Bisharp and Metagross can and will OHKO with their Steel-type STAB attacks. Magnezone resists every attack that Nihilego can throw at it. And Dugtrio knows Earthquake, which makes Nihilego shudder in despair. * Elite Four Olivia (Pokémon League, Rock-type): Power Gem will OHKO Armaldo, and with a Beast Boost, Nihilego can 2HKO Cradily with Sludge Wave or 3HKO without, but that's about all it can do for this fight. Gigalith and Probopass both know Ground-type attacks, and Lycanroc's Continental Crush has a chance to OHKO Nihilego. * Elite Four Acerola (Pokémon League, Ghost-type): Power Gem will 2HKO Banette and trigger a Beast Boost, but be careful, as its Shadow Claw can 2HKO you as well. With a Beast Boost, you have a good chance to OHKO Drifblim with Power Gem, and even without one, you will 2HKO, although be careful, as it can set up Amnesia to reduce your effectiveness, and then Baton Pass it to a grateful replacement. Sludge Wave will 2HKO Dhelmise with a Beast Boost, while it can't do much to you at all, so go wild with it. Power Gem OHKOs Froslass without any boosts, although be careful, as it outspeeds and can confuse you or cause a little damage with Blizzard. Finally, stay away from Palossand, as Earth Power is a nearly-guaranteed OHKO against you. * Elite Four Kahili (Pokémon League, Flying-type): You have a decently-high chance to OHKO Braiary with Power Gem, and even if you miss the OHKO, it will likely kill itself with the Brave Bird recoil. Psychic has a high chance to OHKO Hawlucha without a Beast Boost, pushed into a certain OHKO with it, while Hawlucha's attacks cannot do too terribly much to Nihilego. Oricorio is an utter joke, go wild with Power Gem. Only try to fight Mandibuzz if you've accumulated two Beast Boosts, as that's the only way you can OHKO with Power Gem. Otherwise, Mandibuzz's Bone Rush can cause critical, and likely fatal, damage to Nihilego. Finally, Toucannon will fall in one shot to Power Gem, even without a Beast Boost. * Hau (Pokémon League): Nihilego's fast, but Raichu's faster; it hits hard, but Raichu hits harder. Keep away from it. Power Gem will 2HKO Flareon, or maybe even OHKO after its Flare Blitz recoil, making that fight somewhat simple. Leafeon is slightly more dangerous, as it will deal 70% of Nihilego's health in damage with one Leaf Blade, although you will OHKO it in retaliation with Sludge Wave. Vaporeon is far too dangerous for Nihilego to take on by itself due to its bulk and the sheer strength behind its Hydro Pump. Keep away from Tauros - it knows Earthquake. You have a 50% chance to OHKO Noivern with Power Gem, making that matchup pretty safe. Stay away from Crabominable, as its Close Combat attack has a chance to OHKO. Finally, the starters. All three of them prove to be a bad matchup for Nihilego. Decidueye's Bloom Doom Z-Move will OHKO Nihilego. Primarina is just as bad, as its Hydro Vortex will also be able to eliminate you in one shot. And even though Incineroar lacks the strength and type advantage to defeat you with its Inferno Overdrive, Incineroar packs a surprise Earthquake attack that will defeat you before your Power Gem can defeat it. * Post-Game: It's Ultra Beast versus Ubers, and as strong as Nihilego is, it doesn't really want to be on the end of stuff such as Mega Mewtwo. Moves When caught in the Ultra Deep Sea, Nihilego will know Power Gem, Acid Spray, Stealth Rock, and Mirror Coat. Of those four moves, only Power Gem has any real use. After that, Nihilego will only learn two other moves by level-up: Wonder Room at level 67, and Head Smash at level 73. Both of those moves are fairly useless to Nihilego, both in terms of when they are learned - really late - and in terms of general utility - really weak. Now, where Nihilego really shines is its TM capabilities. For STAB, Nihilego is able to swap out its weak Acid Spray attack for the far more powerful Sludge Wave immediately after its capture. Alternatively, you could combo Toxic and Venoshock for deadly 130 power attacks, although you would be sacrificing an entire moveslot for something that Sludge Wave could do almost by itself. Furthermore, Nihilego has a decent amount of coverage which complements its sky-high Special Attack stat. With Psychic, Dazzling Gleam, and Thunderbolt as potential options, Nihilego can deal with anything short of Ground-type targets - and you wouldn't be leaving it in against them in the first place. Nihilego can use the Acid Downpour and Continental Crush Z-Moves in conjunction with Beast Boost to great effect by starting a snowball effect. By securing that guaranteed OHKO on the foe, Nihilego gets rewarded with that +1 boost to their highest stat, and if that boost goes to Special Attack, Nihilego can begin sweeping. Recommended moveset: Sludge Wave, Power Gem, Dazzling Gleam, Psychic/Thunderbolt Recommended Teammates * Grass-types: Most Grass-type Pokemon can safely switch into an opponent that uses Ground-type or Water-type attacks, giving Nihilego a small safety net against any foe that uses attacks of those types. Nihilego can also assist Grass-types in turn by dealing super-effective damage to Fire, Flying, and Ice-types, as well as resisting Bug and Poison-type attacks. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Decidueye, Lilligant, Whimsicott, Lurantis, Tsareena, Trevenant, Dhelmise, Tropius * Non-Grounded Pokemon: Even more help against Ground-type opponents comes with Pokemon that are just flat-out immune to those attacks. Any Pokemon that can safely switch out with Nihilego will usually prove to be an excellent partner. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Toucannon, Honchkrow, Drifblim, Flygon, Vikavolt, Oricorio, Gyarados, Tropius * Steel-types: While not able to switch into Ground-type attacks, Steel-types do help resist Psychic and other Steel-type moves that would hurt Nihilego. In exchange, Nihilego can also hit Fire-types with Power Gem, providing cover for Steel-types if needed. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Mawile, Metagross, Sandslash, Bisharp Other Nihilego's stats * What Nature do I want? Because of Beast Boost, what you really want is a Special Attack-boosting Nature. With something like that, a single kill could snowball a successive chain of stat boosts, allowing Nihilego to OHKO almost anything. Modest is most preferable, because Nihilego will never use its attack. * How good is Nihilego in a Nuzlocke? Nihilego is a flawlessly-designed sweeper... by the standards of a glass cannon. If it can get the ball rolling, there is almost no stopping it from destroying an entire team. Its high offensive stats, decent coverage, and ability turn it into one of the most feared things that opponents will face... most of the time. Because of its drawback of terrible physical bulk, as well as its awkward typing, if it fails to OHKO a strong opponent, there is a very high chance that Nihilego will get killed instead. Despite its drawbacks, because of its level advantage against the remaining portion of the game it is used in, UB-01 Symbiont should definitely not be skipped, although remember that even though it is strong, it is by no means invincible. * Weaknesses: Ground (x4), Steel, Water, Psychic * Resistances: Normal, Flying, Poison (x0.25), Bug, Fire, Fairy * Immunities: None * Neutralities: Fighting, Rock, Ghost, Grass, Electric, Ice, Dragon, Dark Category:Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon Category:List of Evolutionary Lines with Completed Analyses